The Who Announce 50th Anniversary Tour, Plot New Album

The Who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, and the classic rock gods are doing so with a new album and a tour that may turn out to be their farewell jaunt.

The tour is called "The Who Hits 50." A press releases promises a mix of material from albums like The Who by Numbers, My Generation, Tommy, Quadrophenia, Lifehouse and Endless Wire. Singer Roger Daltrey said in a statement, "This is the beginning of a long goodbye."

Guitarist Pete Townshend promised that the sets would include "hits, picks, mixes and misses." He further said this about the trek: "Trying to stay young. Not wearing socks. Growing a great big woodcutter's beard. Might even wear a check shirt on stage and get a tattoo of a Union Jack. Always a fashion victim. But under no illusions. We are what we are, and extremely good at it, but we're lucky to be alive and still touring."

The tour will kick off in late November with a series of UK shows (see the dates below) and then head to North America in 2015. Before that, they will enter the studio to record a new album.

At a press conference, Townshend said [via the Guardian] that he had given Daltrey three new songs. "We might try to make the album in a more basic way than we usually do," Townshend said, but added that it might end up being "more prog rock than pub rock." They will enter the studio this summer.

Last year, Daltrey told Rolling Stone, "This will be the last old-fashioned, big tour," but added that they won't be breaking up, saying, "We intend to go on doing music until we drop."